Wonderwall
by Chaos Valkyrie
Summary: Jael plays forward for the Zanarkand Duggles, and life is good until Sin attacks and she's taken along for the ride. Now she's sworn Guardian to Rikku as she and the others go to face Sin...
1. Unmarked Helicopters

**Wonderwall  
****Author:** Chaos Valkyrie  
**Date Conceptualized:** January 2, 2006  
**Posted Chapter 01:** January 27, 2006  
**Updated:** April 15, 2008

**Disclaimer:** I looked through the manual and credits, and damn those Squaresoft people! They left my name out again! So until this whole matter is straightened out, I guess "Random Fangirl CV" doesn't own jack or shit.

**Author's Note:** Ah yes, the plot bunnies of Hell and Happy Fun Land mugged me in the back alleyway again, and forced me to start another story. This has an OC, will shy away from the game plot a bit, and will probably include some Rikku-Auron-OC love triangle-ness. Maybe, if I'm not too afraid of the Aurikku fans to do it. But definitely some Auron-OC because Auron rocks my socks. Oh, and if you'll remember the opening blitzball scene with Tidus, my 'OC' – Jael – is the brown-haired Duggle that you see floating upside down and making a really cool pass. Just so ya know.

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Chapter One: Unmarked Helicopters

I'm panicking, and I know I'm panicking, but I can't stop myself. I'm obsessive-compulsive, that's just how it is, don't stop me now. My hands rip my duffel open, checking and rechecking my equipment, uniform, etc. Keys. Check. Goggles. Check. Favorite blitzball. Che– Nope.

Nope?! I run back into the office, checking under my desk, the worktables, through the lockers, everywhere. I know I packed the damn thing this morning. How could it have fallen out of my bag?! My head is under the desk again when I hear a low, muffled chuckle behind me, and my spine stiffens. Eyes narrowing, I stand up and turn to face the man sitting across the room. Brown hair, twinkling eyes, and a smile like mine… when I'm smiling, that it. Right now, I'd say I'm snarling.

"Brother," I grit out, my hands balling into fists, "Give it. Now." I'm surprised I'm actually able to talk, because rage doesn't usually let me get too many words out. Or at least, words that are acceptable to polite society.

He gives me the cute bunny look. Normally that'd work, but this is the Jecht Memorial Cup we're talking about. The game my team has fought for all season long. The chance to beat that little whelp Tidus and his Abes into the ground. "The game I'm going to be late for if I DON'T GET THAT BALL RIGHT NOW!"

Oops. Shouted that last part. Rage receding as blood rushes to face. And Janus, oh brother dearest, merely laughs louder.

"Now sister," he snorts, "Whyever do you think I would steal your Pooky?"

I swear to all that is Zanarkand, I did not give the blitzball that name. He did. I would've called it something like Killer or Bloody-Stump or something… violent, along those lines. But he decided to call it Pooky in his brotherly torment and the name stuck and…

Waitaminute.

"Who said I was missing my blitzball, brother?" I smirk. He was _so_ trapped.

"You did," he grinned. I frowned, retracing my words. Okay, maybe I did.

"Give it to me anyway," I said, marching up to him and grabbing the front of his shirt. He holds his hand up in defense, reaching behind himself with the other. I drop him with an "oof" as I grab the ball and cradle it close. Big smiles.

He laughs. I frown again, before marching back to my bag and shoving the ball back in. Flinging it over my shoulder, I look at him and frown.

"See if I help you out at the office again," I snarl. He gets a slightly (only slightly, mind) worried look on his face. I grin inwardly and change the subject.

"You coming to the game?" I ask, holding the door open. He shrugs.

"I want to, but probably not. With the deadline coming up on the R24, I'm probably going to work all night revamping the OS and working out the kinks in the interface," he replies. Ah, the jargon of the techno junkie.

I grin. "Well…" I trail off, mock-thinking, "Leave me some for tomorrow," I say with an air of great generosity. He grins in relief.

"Will do," he sighs, grabbing my arm and pulling me into a hug. "Good luck tonight, Jael."

"Thanks, Janus. See you tomorrow." For some reason, I pull him into another quick hug, then skip down the steps and turn towards the stadium, waving to him as he stands in the doorway.

Maybe, somehow, I already knew that I'd never see him alive again.

* * *

The game has barely started, and I am violently reminded why I really hate Jecht's son. Prince of the Abes and all that. I play forward for the Duggles, because I'm great at passing and shooting, lousy at guarding and defense. But Garen would just laugh at me if he heard me say that.

Garen is our captain, our coach, everyone's best friend. He drives us with a passion, focusing on our strengths, helping us to cover for our teammates' weaknesses. As for me, that's why I often drill with Luke and Bannon, midfield and left defense. They're decent with passing, but they have some of the best defensive records in the league. Their shooting… well, that's why I work with them.

Anyway, Wenno blocks a shot, passes to Luke who kicks it to me. I grab the ball, pass to Garen, who shoots and then…

That little blond-haired bitch rams my coach and captain and best friend and flings him into the stands. I wince. That's definitely going to leave a mark.

The Abes score, and we're desperately trying to regroup our forces until Garen gets back in the game. As the only forward now, I motion for Bannon and Heath to step up the defense, and Luke swims desperately for the ball. One of the Abes flings the ball upwards, out of the water. We all watch as Tidus, star of stars, shoots out of the water, does his fancy little flip…

And I scream as the blitz field seems to explode around the rest of us. We were so focused on him, we never saw the fireballs until it was too late.

Masonry is falling everywhere, and the blitz sphere rocks crazily, like its melting. The water pulls me along with it as it spills out onto the stadium floor. Dazed, bruised, tasting blood, I pull myself shakily up on my arms when I feel someone fling themselves on top of me. Grunting, I hear more explosions, feel my body shake with the ground beneath me.

The weight lifts, and its Garen. His blue eyes are wide, frantic, but his voice when he speaks is calm. He pulls me to my feet, taking my hand.

"C'mon, we've gotta get out of here," he says. We run out of the stadium, ducking and dodging debris. I have a gash on my arm, and Garen has a black eye from the Princeling's tackle. We run out into the hallway, and Luke and Wenno are pelting down the stairs, bags in hands. They toss me my game bag, and I look at them blankly as I take it. Was our stuff really so important that they had to go back for it?

"Where's Bannon?" I ask Luke, whose eyes shift away from mine. "Heath?" I ask, heart sinking. Garen takes my arm and pulls me towards the stadium gates.

"We're all that's left now," he mutters, and I want to stop, to cry, to rush back and hold their broken bodies. But I don't. I can't. The guys usher me outside and we run like hell across the bridges. Where we're running to, I can't guess. Nowhere is safe anymore.

I'm appalled at the city before me. My eyes are glazed behind my goggles, as are those of the others as we just keep running. Maybe later I'll be able to allow myself the luxury of thinking again, but for now all I can do is sprint past the falling buildings, the crushed and mangled bodies, and look on in glassy, absent-minded horror, the images burning themselves into my mind.

I don't think I'll be sleeping for a very long time once this is all over.

Sounds rip through the air, connecting with the bridge about us. Projectiles imbed themselves in the ground and we keep running, running beyond them. Then Luke screams, and we turn to see that the projectiles aren't just missiles, they're _alive_…

And Wenno is pulling Luke along, bleeding, trying to back away from the monsters before him. I shriek and lunge towards them, but Garen holds me back. Wenno kicks the creature in the head, and it dissolves in a mess of smoky lights.

He picks up Luke and we run, seeing other people fall around us. I think I see some people behind us, fighting the creatures with swords, but I never got a chance to look as Garen lugs me forward.

We dodge past more of the creatures, but soon we're overwhelmed. Luke is coughing blood, his uniform stained a deeper crimson. Wenno is grunting, tired of carrying our friend, but refusing to set him down. Garen and I start fighting, kicking, punching, swinging my bag. The monsters aren't too difficult to kill, but there are _just so many_…

We hear explosions behind us. I turn, looking back as one of the buildings starts to fall towards the bridge. Wenno's arm comes out of nowhere, obscuring my vision as he flings me out of the way. I hear him grunt, and Luke yelp, the Garen is pulling me to my feet and backwards. I glance back. Wenno's on one leg, blood gushing from where a creature clipped him on the other. Luke rises to his feet, and they both look back at me, at Garen, then motion us to run back the way we came. The monsters are pouring towards them as they both stand up and prepare to fight…

"NO!" I scream, wanting to rush to them, help them, end this foolishness. But Garen grips my arm and runs.

"They want to do this, for us. Make their sacrifice an act of honor," he pants in my ear. He pulls me towards the stadium again, and we stop, dazed, as the building that had exploded seconds ago crashes into the bridge. Someone, two someones really, jump onto it and rush towards us as it sinks into the ground. My eyes narrow, but not entirely in anger. Tidus, luckiest s-o-b-blitzballer in the world is running for the bridge…

The bridge beneath us is starting to crack, and I feel Garen grab me from behind, lift me up bag and all, and fling me forwards. I roll along the asphalt, looking back from where I lay to see him. The bridge beneath me is rocking, lifting, enveloped in light, and he's standing in the darkness below, fighting off the creatures that were behind us. He turns to me, one last time, and gives me the half-wave-thumbs-up that's his trademark.

I think I screamed, but my ears were already ringing so I couldn't tell. I see our friends' mangled bodies beyond, I see him take a hit to the stomach, blood seeping out…

Then the bridge lifts so high I can't see anything anymore. I turn and see Tidus and the other guy, not too far from me. They probably think I'm dead, and I look up, into the light.

Something's there, something huge, and the one guy is staring at it like he's talking to it. He grabs Tidus' shirt and lifts him, and I crawl towards them, hoping they may help me, help Garen…

But the light is too bright, and I feel like my soul is aching, crying, screaming as something pulls me into the light, absorbs me…

The light flares once, then I'm blinded as the darkness takes me.

**

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**Song of the Chapter: **Essentially, I've been listening to a lot of old CDs lately, and have hence been picking songs to pair with chapters. "Wonderwall" by Oasis is where the title comes from – it reminded me of Auron. This chapter was originally "Champagne Supernova", but the chapter ended up needing a faster paced, less peaceful song. Hence, Chapter One's song is now "Unmarked Helicopters" by Soul Coughing.

**Borrowed Quotes:** "Make their sacrifice an act of honor." – paraphrase of 'Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves'


	2. Crystal Ship

****

Wonderwall

**Author:** Chaos Valkyrie  
**Date Conceptualized:** January 2, 2006  
**Posted Chapter 02:** February 3, 2006  
**Updated:** April 15, 2008

**Disclaimer:** Nadda Zip Zilch, and all that good stuff.

**Author's Note:** All right, on to Chapter 02. The plot for the first ten or so chapters will focus on Rikku's share of what happened behind the scenes during the first half of the game. From Jael's POV, of course.

**Side Note:** Al Bhed translations are posted at the end. I thought about posting them in the text, but I refrained because it distracted from the story, and for those who read a lot of FFX fics, most of the basic phrases you already know. And hey, at least I posted them… I've read some stories that leave you to do-it-yourself.

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Chapter Two: Crystal Ship

Groaning, I raise a shaking hand to my forehead and wince, eyes closed. That was one fucking-hell-of-a dream. Blood and gore and fallen friends flood my inner vision, and I quickly sit up, shaking my head and opening my eyes so I can leave the nightmare behind…

Except I can't, because I realize that I've been sleeping on the floor of a shattered building, cold and wet and miserable. And there's blood on my arm from when the stadium exploded, and bruises from where Garen flung me, and I pull my goggles down to my neck as I begin to weep. I wrap my arms around my knees and cry for all the pain I had to keep inside while we ran. And I see Wenno and Luke's final defensive, and Garen standing there, giving me his thumbs-up to tell me it'll all be okay… And I bawl harder.

Eventually, I hear a big explosion, and my head jerks up so fast I actually hear my neck snap. Wincing, feeling the whiplash, I jump up, grab my bag and run for the door. I don't know where I am in Zanarkand, but this building doesn't look like it'll take much more damage.

I find myself on a balcony, and I rush to the railing to look down. I snort, frowning as I notice Mr. Wonderful fighting some big lizard. '_I ran in here for _that_?_' I think sarcastically. There's a… well, I think it's a girl helping him, and I realize she's the one causing the explosions as she pulls a pin and throws a grenade at the creature. It staggers from the hit and snarls menacingly.

There are other people standing behind them, and I frown as I realize they're not helping the others. Sure, it looks like Tidus and the girl have things under control, but these guys have _guns_, for crying out loud. Why don't they just shoot it?

I palm the rail and vault over to the ground below. No one sees me as I fall behind the rubble. The ground shakes and the creature takes one more grenade to the gut and dies in a swarm of fairy lights. Seems almost familiar.

Tidus tries to start charming the group as I edge closer. They're saying something, but I must not be hearing them properly because it's all gibberish. Then the girl knees Tidus in the gut and he's out for the count. I smirk. I think I'll like her.

I hear a grunt behind me, and my spine stiffens and I slowly turn just in time to see a heavy metal boot connect perfectly with my sore little posterior. I yelp as I am flung out onto the floor, my hands flying forward to catch myself. I look up to see a similar pair of boots filling my vision… they just happen to be slightly smaller than the last pair. My gaze continues upwards until I'm looking into a pair of dark goggles, and I grin nervously as I look over at Tidus' limp form.

'_Please don't kick me in the face,_' is my one and only thought.

She does seem to consider it, but then she leans down and offers me a hand. I take it, ever cautious, and flinch as I'm jerked to my feet. I hear one of the men snicker, and I flush slightly as they give me the look-over. Now, granted, my blitzball uniform may be… um, rather _open_ in the front, but that's what makes it so incredibly aquadynamic during games. Despite the little flowy touches on the jacket that swirl about me, and my braids…

And I'm babbling and defending my uniform _to myself_. Pathetic. I shake my head slightly, forcing myself to glare at the men threateningly. Just because I'm lousy at defense and tackling doesn't mean that I can't punch. Shooters have strong arms, after all, which is why the other Duggles never messed with me…

…the other Duggles… I want to sob again, but I hold it back, biting my tongue. The girl is saying something in gibberish again, and I can't understand it. I shake my head at her, shrugging, and then I feel something connect with the back of my head. Falling forward, I'm gratified to see the look of horror and anger in the lines about her mouth as she starts talking again. I wish I could stop and watch the show, but the darkness has embraced me again, and my eyelids feel like leaden weights…

* * *

I really must have a word with the darkness. It can't just keep picking me up and throwing me about like it has. Yes, darkness is getting a definite scolding as soon as I feel up to it.

I lift my head up, stifling the cry of pain as my hand tenderly rubs the large welt on the back of my skull. The metal beneath me is cold and wet, but it feels oh-so-nice right now in contrast to the flaring hot pain coursing through my system. I close my eyes for a little longer, but the rocking finally gets to me and I lift myself up to look around.

I'm on a boat, in the open, and I stand up gingerly. Tidus is unconscious a few feet away, my bag is gone, it's drizzling, and the city is nowhere to be seen. Perfect.

I stagger over towards the doors on the end of the deck. Banging on them hurts my already tender hands and produces nothing. Snorting, I look around for some sort of latch, knob, anything. There's a control panel on the side, and I push buttons until it bleeps at me angrily. Grinning, I reach below it the pull the cover off the circuit board.

Now, let me explain something. Janus, my brother… not thinking too hard about where he is now… well, he's a techno genius. Has his own company and everything. Zanarkand wants a new technologically wonderful device, they go straight to him. And I am his baby sister, which means that I must have had some of that rub off on me, right? Which is why, when I'm not playing blitzball, I give him a hand around the shop.

The panel is child's play. Flip a few switches, bend a few wires, and I can hear that door slide open like it's a hot knife through cold bread… er, butter. Whatever. Point is, I'm walking inside into that warm air and inhaling those mecha-grease fumes. Not very sweet, but better than being cold.

Unfortunately, someone must've been coming to check on us, because I turn a corner and run smack into three of the people from before. They're surprised to see me, of course, and my eyes narrow as I recognize the man who is standing behind the strange girl. My hand lifts unconsciously to the welt on the back of my head, and I see his eyes bug out a little as he realizes I know he's the one who put it there. He's so focused on that that he doesn't see my other fist pull back…

It connects squarely with his jaw, and remember what I said about shooters having strong arms? He's flung backwards into the metal wall with a huge thud that resonates up and down the hallway. The girl smirks a little as the other man with her chuckles, and other heads pop out of doorways all up and down the hallway. The girl waves them off, speaking to me in that strange language again.

I sigh, and she seems to catch herself.

"E's cunno. How did you get in?" she asks. I blink at her, finally understanding.

"Um, I hotwired the control panel," I confess, pointing my thumb back at the hatch and rubbing my neck nervously. She seems confused for a moment, then grabs my arm and jerks me outside. I must still be wonky from the rifle-butt-to-the-head, because even though I stand a good six inches taller than her – at least – she's pulling me along like I'm smoke in the wind.

I'm marched outside where Tidus is still drooling on the deck and her eyes widen as she notices my patch job on the side panel. Her friend – the one I didn't punch – whistles and bends down to take a closer look. I chuckle nervously as they both look up at me, their eyes hidden behind their goggles.

"Um, sorry?" I shrug. The girl lowers her goggles, and I can see her wide green-swirly eyes looking at me calculatingly…

Wait. Swirly eyes? I bend forward, and she seems slightly alarmed as I glare into her eyes. Her friend's hand reaches for the weapon at his hip…

"How'd you get your eyes to do that?" I ask her, leaning back. They both look at each other, and then back at me.

"I'm Al Bhed," she answers, as if that should explain everything. The guy lowers his goggles, and he's got the swirlies too, 'cept his eyes are more of a blue-ish-green. I tilt my head, rubbing it as I feel my headache reblossoming with a vengeance.

"You're ah… what?" I ask brilliantly.

They stare at each other again, and start talking the gibberish again. Then the girl grabs my arm and I'm floating again, down the hallway. We pass through several different rooms before she pulls me in front of a bench and motions for me to sit down. I look around, and figure that this must be some sort of infirmary. There are a few empty beds and she's rooting around in a cabinet, looking at bottles and muttering a string of gibbered profanities.

She finally finds what she's looking for, and she hands me this little bottle. "Drink that," she tells me. I look at the bright green liquid, shrug, and toss it back.

Whoa. Just… whoa. My veins feel like they're on fire and the pain is pulsing in this tingly kinda way… and then suddenly the sheer _relief_ from pain is so intense that I feel light headed. I look at my arm and can actually see the cut healing before my eyes. My hand reaches to the back of my head and there's nothing there anymore. I look at the girl, who looks smug and says something else I can't understand.

She must've seen the look on my face, that spacey where-am-I-ooo-look-something-shiny expression I get when I'm feeling dizzy, because she rolls her eyes and points over at one of the beds. I stagger over with her help and lay down on top of the blankets. She starts to say something else, but a voice comes out over some loudspeaker and she pauses, listening.

"Stay here, and get some sleep," she tells me before she gets up to leave. I nod dumbly, my mind already fading away…

* * *

I awake from a blessedly dreamless sleep with a start as the entire ship rocks violently. My hands grip the edges on the bed and I roll over, my feet finding the floor with a thump. I feel eons better, but the screams outside are none too reassuring. I flop towards the door as the ship rocks again, and stagger into the hallway.

People are rushing past me, and I can't make out anything they're saying except the word "Sin." Not sure what I'm doing, I try to retrace my steps from earlier and head towards the deck.

The doors are already open and the people out there are fighting more of those creatures from the bridge in Zanarkand. The girl is clinging to the rail, and one monster breaks away and runs for her…

With a shriek I run forward, kicking it violently in the head. It bursts into fairy lights and the girl looks up, surprised to see me panting there. I grab her arm and pull her towards the doorway, staggering. The ship rocks and we're almost thrown overboard, but we each manage to grab the rail again and cling to each other.

Weapons are firing and lights are floating around and all of a sudden everything just goes _dead_. The last of the monsters are shrieking and dying, and the people are chattering, sobbing, heaving, but the boat has gone completely still and the waters below are glassy and calm.

I shakily get to my feet, and the girl is gibbering again to the others, gesticulating towards the railing and the water below. And as I look around, I suddenly realize…

"Hey, where's Tidus?" I ask the girl, and she stops and stares at me, and the panic glazing her eyes is answer enough.

**

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Chapter Two Al Bhed Translations:

E's cunno. – I'm sorry.

**Song of the Chapter:** Crystal Ship by X. Why? Just because I like it. The lyrics actually fit the chapter, but the beat is a little too fast paced.


	3. Unexplained

**Wonderwall  
****Author:** Chaos Valkyrie  
**Date Conceptualized:** January 2, 2006  
**Posted Chapter 03:** February 10, 2006  
**Updated:** April 15, 2008

**Author's Note:** Yep. Chapter Three. Yep. Don't own anything. Yep… I'll have four next weekend? And why am I saying so many yeps… Hm. Must be the coffee.

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Chapter Three: Unexplained

"So, you're telling me that Zanarkand – _my Zanarkand_ – was destroyed a _thousand years ago_?!"

Rikku, as the girl calls herself, rubs her head wearily. I guess I can't blame her. From what I understand, Tidus beat his head against this particular brick wall with her earlier.

"For the umpteenth time, yes," she sighs, cradling her mug of cocoa. I slurp some coffee from my own mug, my head reeling.

"But… Garen, my teammates… Janus…" I trail off, head sagging. I've already cried so much that there really aren't too many more tears emerging – right now. I'm sure more'll find their way out later, but right now I'm still stuck on… yup. You guessed it.

"A thousand years ago?!"

Rikku gives me an evil glare, which I ignore as I stare into my coffee. A thousand years ago. A _thousand_… years… ago… But then…

"How am I here?" I ask aloud, and she tilts her head as she studies me.

"Its Sin's toxin. You've just… forgotten where you're really from," she answers, but I can hear the doubt in her voice. Sure, she could've written all this off had it just been me, or Tidus, but both of us insisting that we're from an ancient, destroyed city… she's confused too.

"I don't think so," I answer forcefully, my eyes boring into hers. "I wish I could forget… but I _watched_ my friends die, remember?" We both wince, then my eyes brighten as a light bulb flares to life over my head. "Besides, look at the back of my uniform," I tell her, pointing to my back. She stands up and peers at the insignia on my jacket…

"Zanarkand Duggles, C-South," I quote out loud. She frowns thoughtfully.

"But even so…" she replies. I know what she's getting at. I've been trying to scale that particular wall myself.

"I know. How'd I get a thousand years in the future?" I ask resignedly.

* * *

We decided to give up on jumping that hurdle for now. Rikku takes me on a tour of the salvage ship, but she cautions me before we leave the galley.

"Now, don't tell anyone you're from Zanarkand," she says, and I tilt my head in confusion.

"Why not?"

"Because it's a sacred place now, and some people on the mainland would be offended if you claim you're from there," she explains. I snort. Zanarkand, a holy place? I think of all the gangs and strip clubs and the neon lights, and grin. No way in hell.

Before I realize what she's doing, Rikku reaches around me, and with a quick flick of her wrist and a tearing noise, I feel something rip from my back.

"Hey!" I protest, but its too late and she's handing me the 'Zanarkand Duggles' insignia patch that I had shown her earlier.

"Most of the others on the ship can't read common Spiran, but you don't want anyone seeing this when we get to shore," she tells me. I sigh, resigned as I stuff it in a pocket. I know she means well, but my pride aches. She ignores my melancholy and grins, grabbing my wrist and pulling me into the hallway.

The salvage ship is like a huge metal quilt, I discover. The Al Bhed, Rikku's people, are scavengers of the land, sea, and Rikku assures me, soon to be air. This ship is a patchwork of various mechanical parts they've gathered from all over Spira. From the lowest hold to the highest deck, she gives me the grand tour, bouncing around like she's on a sugar high. And momentarily, because she's so infectious, I forget my pain as she opens hatches and grates and shows me greasy, spinning gears and messes of taped up wires like they're something special. And really, I guess to her they _are_.

My tour ends as a bell clangs overhead. Rikku grins, reassuring me that it's only the dinner alarm. Frankly, I'm starving, so I don't protest as she leads me to the dining hall. She sits me down at a table, and I sit there, embarrassed, enduring the stares and leering glances from some of the others. My eyes meet those of the man I punched earlier, and he looks away quickly, causing me to grin.

Rikku sets a tray down in front of me, and I try to force myself to eat slowly. Still, I'm finished long before she is, and I sit back, content.

"So Rikku," I begin, after having watched the others around us, "Do you think you could teach me to speak Al Bhed?" She grins, nodding her head vigorously.

"Of course! It's real easy to learn! You just…" and she's off, explaining about how to switch the letters around and how to translate from Spiran (which I had no idea that that was what I was speaking) to Al Bhed. The conversation lasts through the rest of dinner, where I learn a few basic words like "oui" meaning "you" and so on.

After the meal ends, she introduces me to several of the other crew members. The blond boy who had been with her I discover to be her brother, named oddly enough, Pnudran, or 'Brother' in Al Bhed. How original. The man I had punched was Nulg, and the captain of the ship was Rikku's cousin, named Maytan. They all seem friendly, but as Rikku jabbers away in Al Bhed, I notice most seem confused about my presence. Who I was, where I was from… I never hear her mention Zanarkand, so I assume she must've made something up. About Sin's toxin or whatever.

Rikku and Maytan seem to come to some sort of agreement, for she grabs my arm excitedly and half-drags me out of the room. She doesn't stop or let go of me until we reached a metal door. Dropping my arm, she looks at me and grins.

"You and I get to share sleeping quarters for right now, until we get back Home," she tells me, showing me the sequence of buttons to push to allow access to the room. Its sparse, two cots with non-descript bedding, a tall dresser and a small porthole. My bag is resting on the far cot, and I look at her questioningly. Her smile turns wistful, one foot toeing the ground self-consciously.

"Well, I was hoping Maytan would let us room together," she mumbles, and I grin.

"That's fine," I say, unzipping the bag. My normal clothes were inside, my ball, everything. I see something flying at my head from the corner of my vision, and I manage to catch the pajamas before they can smack my face. Rikku chuckles.

"Good catch," was all she said as she changes into her own pair. I slip out of my uniform and into the pajamas – and as I thought, the pants rise several inches above my ankles, while the camisole top bares my midriff. I grin as Rikku laughs behind me.

"Well, it would seem you've got some more growing to do," I tell her, and she sticks her tongue out at me in reply. I pull out 'Pooky' and play with it idly as I sit on cross-legged on the bed. Rikku's sprawled on her stomach, eyeing me thoughtfully.

"You play blitzball, right?" she asks. I nod, spinning the ball on my finger. "Well, there's a tournament coming up in Luca," she says thoughtfully, "Maybe you could go with our team. You might find someone who knows you there," she trails off. "Maybe we'll find Tidus there… I told him that'd be the best place to go."

I stop playing with the ball as I hear the doubt in her voice. I smile at her, softly. "I'm sure he's all right, Rikku. Tidus has always been the luckiest pain-in-the-ass I've ever had the displeasure of playing against."

She giggles. "Do you really hate him so much?" she asks. I stop and think about it.

"Well, maybe _hate_ is too strong a word. More like… I guess I hated what a big deal everyone made about him. His father was a famous player, and so now everyone treats him like he's the best player in the world, all because of his dad. I mean," I correct myself, "Tidus _is_ a good player and all, I'll admit it, but he's also reckless and has a history of bad calls. He's just not a team player sometimes…" I trail off. In a way, just thinking about blitzball and Tidus has me sad again, thinking about the games we've played… my teammates…

"Jael," Rikku cuts in, and I realize I'm crying again. I curse inwardly and forcefully wipe the tears away. Crying won't bring anyone back.

"Sorry… just… remembering," I tell her. I smile, sadly reassuring her that I'll be all right. She frowns before hopping over to my bed and giving me a hug.

"It'll be okay," she whispers, and I just nod and hug her back. She hops back over to her own bed, and we make idle chit-chat for a few more minutes until I see her trying vainly to hold back a yawn.

"We should go to sleep," I tell her, and she grins sheepishly and hops over to turn out the lights. I hear the cot next to mine creak as she settles in, but my eyes stay open to the darkness long after I hear her gentle breathing fill the cabin.

Why was I here? Myself, and Tidus? If we were really a thousand years in the future… what of it? What was it that we had to do? And would we ever get home after it was done?

And most importantly, what kind of home would we have to return to?

**

* * *

**

**Song of the Chapter: **Unexplained – Meat Puppets. All the chapters now will just be named after their song inspirations… just because. I picked this song because it talks about how things are the same but not… "They are not stars/we are not human/I don't know the reason why/a firefly is just a candle, just a flower in my eye/and so a rose is not a rose by that or any other name/things remain unexplained." Jael's in a world where things look the same, but aren't. Go figure.


	4. Sin the Magical Mystery Goldfish

**Wonderwall  
****Author:** Chaos Valkyrie  
**Date Conceptualized:** January 2, 2006  
**Posted Chapter 04:** February 17, 2006  
**Updated:** April 15, 2008

**Author's Note:** All right, I've made some changes to my outlines, and 'Song of the Chapter' titles are being struck out.

**

* * *

**

Chapter Four: Sin, the Magical Mystery Goldfish

I can't sleep. I listen to Rikku breathing softly, mumbling incoherently through some dream. I stand up and leave the cabin, stubbing my toe on the door as I trip ungracefully out into the hallway. Yawning, I walk through the darkened ship, searching aimlessly. I can hear the creaking of the ship as it's rocked gently by the tides, and the distant clanking of boots against metal as the nighttime guards keep an eye out for fiends and Sin.

I finally wander onto the darkened bridge and flop down in a swivel chair that's bolted to the floor. I spin idly for a few moments, looking around at the control rooms and all its many panels and spinning cogs. I turn to the console, lazily pushing a few buttons, more out of habit than anything else… It was so much like being in Janus's lab, running routine diagnostics on his newer systems…

My eyes widen with a sudden realization. This ship, the airship below… according to Rikku, they're all from _my_ time. Which means that perhaps these systems still carry data from _my time_. Which means that maybe, just maybe, they'll have something to tell me about how to get home, tell me about Sin…

I turn back to the console, and start typing away furiously at the buttons before me.

* * *

I hear Rikku stumble into the control room before I actually turn to greet her. My search has been fruitless and frustrating. Any data the system may have possessed has long been erased and rewritten with newer Al Bhed coding. The letters dance before my eyes, a cryptographic jumble of confusion.

"What're you doin'?" Rikku asks, peering over my shoulder. I sigh in frustration.

"I thought that maybe if this system was salvaged from my time, it might contain some data on Sin. But apparently that's all gone now," I snarl disappointedly, waving a hand at the screen. Rikku shrugs.

"Well, my father couldn't make out the old coding, and so he had to wipe it in order to reprogram it to work for the salvage ship," she informs me. I guess I can't fault that…

"I'm sorry. I was just _hoping_ that maybe I could find out something about Zanarkand, about getting home…" I trail off, turning away as I notice the look of pity she's giving me.

"Why don't you come back and get some sleep," she tells me gently. "We've got a long day tomorrow."

Silently I nod and follow her forlornly from the room.

* * *

It was a good thing I actually did manage to get some sleep, for the next day sees me working my ass off, bright and early. Apparently, Tidus helped Rikku turn on the power to this huge airship wreck under water. And now I am _permitted_ to help them rig it up to be towed to the island of Bikanel. What fun. I've spent the entire day underwater, running lines and cables. My hands are pruney, the taste of brine has implanted itself in my mouth, but deep down, I don't really mind. I feel at home in the water, it's the one thing that is familiar in my life right now, and the hard work takes my mind off the disappointment from the previous evening…

We've been trying to drain the ship of water during the day, barring doors and using the ship's own vents to help pump the water out of the cavity. Good thing too – the airship looks like it's larger than the salvage ship, and until another ship reaches our location, we've got to do something to make this thing mobile. Turning it into a giant metal bubble sounds like a good idea to me. And I can feel hope blossoming, as I eye the panels flashing at me under the water. The salvage ship may have been reprogrammed, but this ship hasn't been touched yet… '_Perhaps once it's been drained…_' I think happily to myself.

Of course, I'd be happier if we didn't have to constantly fight off piranhas and other fishy fiends. Fiends. That was something that took some explaining. So the souls of the dead that are Unsent or have unfinished business become envious of the living and turn into monsters hell bent on destroying anything that breathes. Huh. Sounds like a bad horror movie to me, but since all the fish we fight seem to turn into fairy lights and not bloody corpses, I guess I'll buy it. In any case, Rikku and I have amassed quite a bit of Gil and spheres during the day while we've worked on the ship.

It's my second conscious night here, and I'm already starting to get a little bit of the language under my belts. Speaking of which, since I wore my blitzball wetsuit to work on the ship, I've had several of the guys comment on my two belts and the widely revealing façade of my uniform. Of course, I retaliated by commenting on their overalls-slash-chaps and oversized goggles, which would've escalated into a fight had it not been for Rikku and my utter lack of comprehension of their language. In any case, I get to pass a quiet evening in the cabin after dinner, counting my Gil and spheres and learning how to curse in Al Bhed. Tysh ed, but that was fun.

Of course, not all fun gets to last.

"Rikku, tell me about Sin?" I ask suddenly. She drops the technical manual she's flipping through and eyes me strangely.

"What about it?" she asks cautiously.

"Well, firstly, what is _Sin_? It seems like a big fish of some sort, but how could a big fish float in midair? How did it bring me from a thousand years ago to today? Were Tidus and I inside it for a 1000 years, or did it somehow carry us through time?" I'm rambling now, and she's staring at me like my head's suddenly turned into Pooky.

"Why are you even asking all of this?" This question I'm prepared for.

"I'm confused and curious and everything else. Why am I here?" I ask her, some of the pain I've been feeling leaking into my voice. "Why did I make it here and no one else did except Tidus? And how did Sin do that in the first place… I don't know anything about it. What it is, how it does what it does… And I guess I'm scared. Like there's some danger looming over me and I don't know what it is, much less how to stop it. So please," I beg her, "Tell me. Everything you know about Sin."

And so she did. She told me about the summoners and the pilgrimages and how they always died in the end. She told me how the Final Aeon could defeat Sin and how the summoners always died, presumably from the effort. And that's when my doubts began, and more questions were raised than answered. We go to sleep soon after, and once again I lay awake, listening to Rikku sleep.

Okay. So what do I know now about Sin? It's a big fish. A big magical fish. It has non-fatal weakness to the Final Aeon. Summoners are the only ones able to summon the Final Aeon. The summoner-sacrifice thing obviously does not work, since Sin has never been truly _defeated_ in one thousand years. And somehow, its appearance is linked to my Zanarkand.

I'm starting to get the feeling that I'm not ever going home. And I'm starting to accept that, even if it still leaves me full of sorrow, because I honestly don't think there's much a home left to go back to. Going home means burying my friends, possibly my brother, but staying here means that I can avoid confronting that reality. I _know_ they're dead, and I know that I'll have to face that fully eventually, but right now, I feel so distanced from the fact. Going to Zanarkand, whether it's the one in this time or the home I just left, will be a huge slap in the face that I'm not willing to deal with right now.

I'll deal with it eventually. The tomorrow after tomorrow. But right now, I can distract myself and tell myself that everything is going to be okay. Even if I still see _them_ dying in my dreams…

* * *

The next day, another salvage ship comes into view. I watch in good humor as Rikku hugs and then promptly begins to argue with the bald man who emerges from the other ship's cabin. I am then introduced to Cid, Rikku's dad and leader of the Al Bhed. Of course, Rikku hadn't thought to warn me about that ahead of time, but I play it cool. I then get to spend another day helping Rikku, Pnudran, and Nulg rig this new ship up to the airship below, earning more Gil from numerous fiends.

Once the sun sets and work pauses, I manage to argue over dinner with Pnudran in Spiran over his clothes and curse him in Al Bhed while Rikku giggles madly nearby. Pnudran would've probably argued longer, but a combination of his father's stern commands and Nulg's cautious reminders told him to break off the fight before I punch him. Too bad, I was kinda looking forward to that…

* * *

Day four. I don't know why I'm bothering to count the days, really, but it's something to do. We've got the ship up off of the rocks without too much extra damage, and now we're towing it behind the two ships. I'm standing on the deck in my civilian clothes of jeans and a dark red tee-shirt, watching it drift behind us when Cid approaches me.

"Rikku tells me she found ya in the ruins," he states, leaning on the rail next to me and watching the airship with a fond eye.

"Yeah, I got left there by Sin," I tell him. I'm hesitant to mention Zanarkand, after Rikku's urging. He snorts.

"If I've got my way, Sin won't be a problem anymore," he says, nodding at the airship. I look at it thoughtfully.

"Do you think the airship can destroy it?" I ask, unsure. A thousand years ago, there may have been ships capable of such a feat… but this relic doesn't look like it's up to the challenge.

"Probably not… but there are other plans," he tells me before he gets up to leave. I ponder this until Rikku comes bouncing up to me.

"Hey, c'mon! Dad wants me to get you better outfitted to fight fiends," she tells me. I look at her in such confusion that she laughs and drags me across the network of cables to his ship.

Cid's salvage ship is much larger than Maytan's. Rikku waves to several different people, who smile and greet her in return. She doesn't stop, however, until she has dragged me inside to an armory of sorts.

My eyes widen at the array of guns, swords, knives, and various armaments scattered across the walls, shelves and tables. Rikku giggles at my expression, but her voice is serious when she addresses me.

"The fish we've been fighting are relatively weak, but once we get to Bikanel, they'll be a lot stronger. You'll need a better weapon than just your two fists. And armor too," she adds as an afterthought. I nod absently, looking around at all the various weaponry. A glint of steel catches my eye, and my attention is drawn to a seemingly innocuous brown belt and holster. I pick it up and release the leather buckle that holds the heavy pistol in place. The gun is a little bulky, certainly not a 'lady's' weapon, but I like it. I hold it up with one hand and aim, wondering what it would be like to fire it. Rikku giggles behind me, and I turn my head to see her standing there with a big claw covering her right arm.

"You like it?" she asks. I nod, grinning.

"Yeah, I think I'll take it, if it's okay," I tell her. She nods.

"That's fine. Pops said to take whatever you wanted. Here," she says, rooting through a haphazard stack of boxes. She tosses me a box, which clinks as I catch it. "That gun will either run on normal bullets," she says, nodding at the box, "Or on those elemental spheres that fiends sometimes drop. I'll show you how to turn those into ammo later," she tells me, rooting out another box and tossing it to me. I peek inside to see a selection of glowing orbs, and I assume they must be the elemental gems she was referring to.

"Now for armor," she mutters absently, rooting through a chest of drawers on the far end of the room. I quickly buckle the gun belt around my waist, shifting the holster so that it's within easy reach of my right hand. I practice drawing a couple of times, trying to see how fast I can have the gun out and ready.

Rikku is tossing armbands and bracelets and all manner of things about the room as she roots through the drawers. She finds a shield-like something that glitters with a strange light, and lashes it onto her own arm. "This is a targe," she tells me, rooting again in the drawers. I shake my head, peering over her shoulder as she mutters unintelligibly in Al Bhed.

"That one," I say, grabbing a silver and black wrist guard from over her shoulder. She looks up at me as I strap it to my left wrist.

"Um, that's a bracer," she tells me, grinning.

"Okay," I say, lifting my wrist and twisting it. It seems to fit all right.

"It's typically a guy's armor," she tells me, a twinkle in her eye.

"And I don't care," I smile at her. She grins wider.

"All right, I warned you," she tells me. She grabs a tool kit and lugs it and me to a table set across the room. "Now I'll show you how to customize your weapons and armor," she says, flipping the box open and setting to work.

* * *

The next few hours are spent customizing. Rikku informs me that a lot of the fiends on Bikanel are weak against fire, ice, and lightning, so she shows me how to make ammunition from the elemental spheres and how to differentiate between them. She then roots around the room again until she finds some small pouches that I can clip on to the gun belt to hold my ready supply of ammunition. She also finds a couple of spare clips for the gun for faster reloading.

We pull out all the spheres we've collected the last few days, and Rikku helps me add the Sensor ability to the pistol, so that I'll more easily be able to tell what the different fiends' weaknesses are. She then explains about Overdrives and stealing from enemies and differing battle conditions, then laughs at my confusion. She decides that we'll practice on Bikanel, where it'll be easier for her to demonstrate these things in battle, rather than trying to tell me.

The bracer we rework to up its defensive properties against magic and physical attacks. As I restrap it to my wrist, I can feel the energy pulsing off of it. It feels strange to me, but ultimately makes me feel safer. I grin as Rikku works on her targe, something bubbling up through me. I realize its gratitude.

"Rikku, I just want to thank you," I start, and she looks up at me, "For everything you've done for me the past few days. Just… thanks," I feel lame, but she just smiles.

"That's okay," she tells me, and we smile at each other in understanding.

"You're like the little sister I always wished for," I tell her, and she sticks her tongue out at me.

"And you're like the big sister I always wished I could trade my brother for," she returns, and we both chuckle as the dinner bell rings overhead.

**

* * *

**

**End Notes: **I reworked this chapter from the original draft. I've got some new ideas for this story, and its going to deviate behind the scenes somewhat from the main plotline. This story may end up longer or slight shorter than what I have planned, but not by much. Look for Chapter 05 next weekend! Toodles!


	5. New Purpose

**Wonderwall  
****Author:** Chaos Valkyrie  
**Date Conceptualized:** January 2, 2006  
**Posted Chapter 05:** February 24, 2006  
**Updated:** April 15, 2008

**Disclaimer:** Don't own a thing. Except a very nice game disc, thank-you-very-much. Oh wait… nope, actually, I don't own that either. I borrowed that from my brother-in-law… (sweatdrops)

**Author's Note:** Well, I'm finally on Gagazet… in the game. But this story is no where near that point in the plot, so it's irrelevant. And I had predicted this to be about 40 chapters, doing some rough game-plot-line divisions, but that's very approximate now, due to the fact that I've been doing a lot of revision on my outline. This story will follow the game plot, but will focus more on the behind the scenes aspects of FFX as well as involving the major characters.

**

* * *

**

Chapter Five: New Purpose

Tysh ed, it's hot. Really really vilgehk hot. When Rikku told me she lived on a desert island, I pictured palm trees and coconuts and exotic flowers. But now I know that when she says desert island, she means _desert_ on an _island_.

The Al Bhed Home is a huge complex of machina towers that jut above the sand like an impossible mirage. There are more cactuses than any other plant, and the sand stretches as far as the eye would want to see. We dock there a few days after Rikku gave me the weapons, and almost immediately all the inhabitants of Home are swarming over the airship like kids attacking Santa's workshop.

While the airship is half-dragged and half-lifted by multiple heavy machinas into a large underground bunker, Rikku decides to take me on a tour of the complex, showing me different garages full of grease-covered mechanics and a whole slew of machina in various stages of repair. Cannons, speeders, ships, weapons – all being assembled with frightening speed.

Rikku confesses that they're gearing up for a large battle soon against Sin, and that the Al Bhed here were preparing all this weaponry to fight against and destroy the menace once and for all. I merely shake my head, speechless. I hope it will work for them… but somehow, I have a bad feeling about this. I keep my doubts to myself, however, as Rikku babbles on about how maybe this would lead to the acceptance of her people.

That night, we eat dinner with her father and brother in her family's section of the complex. The kitchen is half buried under various bits and pieces of machina, but the food is good, and her family is warm as they heckle each other and me in a mixture of Al Bhed and Spiran.

I'm starting to understand the language better, and Rikku and I are now able to carry on whole conversations in her native tongue. The only times I really have trouble are with some of the others, when they speak too quickly or their accents are too heavy.

"Tomorrow we're going to commence work on the airship," Cid drawls, catching my attention. "First we'll wipe the systems and try to reprogram it to fly to our specifications –"

"No!" I shout, interrupting him. He and Pnudran give me funny looks as Rikku shakes her head. "There may be information in that system on Sin! We've gotta check it out before you wipe it," I declare. Rikku looks at her father in disbelief.

"And besides, pops, since when do you know to program airships?" she asks, and he looks slightly abashed. "That's what I thought. Don't go overboard, pops. Jael has a knack for programming, why don't ya see if she can get it up and running?" she asks. Cid looks over at me, and I'm none-too-sure about that gleam in his eye.

* * *

The next few days pass in a blur. As soon as Cid discovered that I had a knack for working with machina, he immediately assigned me to work on the airship. While Rikku crawls through ducts replacing wires and parts, I get to sit on the Bridge and play with the computer systems as they come online. Its slow going, delving through the ship's records and trying to learn how to fly it in the process. Not to mention teaching Pnudran and the rest of the crew what I'm slowly gleaning from the system.

"Find anything yet?" Rikku asks me as she wanders onto the bridge. I snort as I look at her, her overalls covered in grease and bits of wires sticking out of her pockets. I hold up my "Sin Facts" notebook and grimace.

"Well, I think this ship crashed before Sin appeared… I can't find any specs on it at all. I _have_ found a lot about a war between Zanarkand and St. Bevelle… that must've started after Sin attacked, I don't remember it…" I trail off thoughtfully. "And there's lots about the weapons that both sides used and Summoners and war related information… but nothing on Sin." I sigh heavily. Rikku flips through my notebook and grins suddenly.

"Is this your master plan for Sin's defeat?" she chuckles at me. I mock-frown at her from my chair and snatch the notebook back.

"All right, so my only plan at the moment consists of using the Final Aeon to weaken Sin, then chopping it into little bitty pieces and a having one hell of a fish fry that'll feed Spira for the next few millennia. It could work," I tell her petulantly. She merely laughs harder.

* * *

The progress on the airship is moving along faster than I would have thought, and Cid would probably keep me here full time if not for Rikku.

Rikku, with a batting of eyelashes and a twist of her little finger, won the two of us time off to retreat into the desert and fight fiends. Around the work on the airship, I learn a great deal about my gun over the next few days, and how to fight these odd creatures.

My first lesson is that it is almost impossible to run away from a fiend. The reasoning behind that is that they are so consumed with jealousy and hatred that they blindly follow humans anywhere, as long as they have the chance to kill. Which is handy, actually, because we lure many a fiend into traps set up by the Al Bhed for the upcoming operation.

However, the Al Bhed don't need too many fiends for Mi'ihen, and so Rikku and I get to practice our fighting skills as well. We practice Overdrives and weapon abilities on the fiends, and I learn how to quickly mix stronger ammunition during a battle. I improve my draw, learning to quickly switch between clips of different ammunition and reload clips with frightening speed when they're empty. We also win a pretty number of spheres, and Rikku teaches me the most basic of thieving skills. However, after a Zu almost rips my arm off, I gladly leave most of the stealing to Rikku.

* * *

I've been in Spira for almost two weeks now. It seems like so much longer, however. I have already had to relearn the most basic living skills in order to survive in this alternate world. Rikku is proud of herself at how much she has taught me, and I in turn devote myself to working on the airship as repayment. However, everything begins to change again as my eleventh day in Spira draws to a close…

"Vilg!" I hear a voice scream. My head jerks up, and I almost beam myself but good inside the control panel I'm rewiring. I pull myself out and run towards the front of the airship where the exclamation originated from.

The others are gathered around a man clutching his left arm in pain. It wouldn't take a genius to tell that it's broken. Someone I don't know forces a potion down his throat, and it seems to work all right. However, as he rubs the appendage, it's obvious that it hadn't worked well enough.

One of the mechanics, and man called Nimrook, shakes his head. "Blappa, fryd tet oui tu?"

"Pnuga so yns, fryd tuac ed muug mega?!" the man spits through the pain. Rikku giggles at Nimrook's expression.

"Tysh ed, fa'ja kud y kysa eh dfu tyoc!" the burly man curses. Cid grunts in annoyance.

"Cu bmyo fedruid res," he tells him.

"Fedr fru? Ymm uin nacanja bmyoanc yna ehjumjat eh Mi'ihen," Nimrook sighs exasperatedly. The others are deep in thought when Rikku suddenly flares to life.

"Jael luimt bmyo!" she screeches excitedly. The others look at her, then at me. I had been doing a pretty good job of keeping up with the conversation, but Rikku's words left me opened mouthed and gaping like a goldfish.

"Me?" I ask her, wiping my grease covered hands on a cloth a little more forcefully than necessary. She turns her large swirly emerald eyes on me in a way that would make puppies envious.

"Please?" she begs. Nimrook coughs behind her.

"What position did you play?" he asks. I gulp.

"Um, forward…" I answer slowly. Blappa grimaces from the floor.

Rikku turns her eyes on Nimrook. "Bmayca?" she begs him. He sighs.

"Fa'mm caa," is his only reply as he turns and motions us out of the garage. Rikku grins and grabs my arm, pulling me after the surly player.

* * *

One practice match later, the Al Bhed Psyches welcome me to the team. I was amazed that the Home complex had a blitz arena deep within its bowels, but that's where Nimrook took me and Rikku. He called out the other players and some of the reserves to play the match. I manage to score five goals off of the reserve goalie, and once against Nimrook. I'm quick to admit that he was better than Wenno in the goal, but not as personable. Rikku cheers from the sidelines as we finish our game and shut down the sphere.

"Oui'na bnaddo kuut… fa'mm dyga oui," he says, patting my shoulder as we enter the locker room.

"Dryhgc," I reply sarcastically. He grins a toothy smile.

"Hu bnupmas," he replies, shucking his goggles and winking at me. I roll my eyes and walk out to find Rikku.

"Well, did I make you proud?" I ask her. She smiles.

"We'll win that championship for sure!" she laughs. I grin at her, shaking my head.

"I'm beginning to wonder what I've gotten myself into," I groan as we leave the arena to head back to her family's complex.

**

* * *

**

Chapter Five Al Bhed Translations:

"Blappa, fryd tet oui tu?" "Blappa, what did you do?"

"Pnuga so yns, fryd tuac ed muug mega?!" "Broke my arm, what does it look like?!"

"Tysh ed, fa'ja kud y kysa eh dfu tyoc!" "Damn it, we've got a game in two days!"

"Cu bmyo fedruid res," "So play without him,"

"Fedr fru? Ymm uin nacanja bmyoanc yna ehjumjat eh Mi'ihen." "With who? All our reserve players are involved in Mi'ihen."

"Jael luimt bmyo!" "Jael could play!"

"Bmayca?" "Please?"

"Fa'mm caa," "We'll see,"

"Oui'na bnaddo kuut… fa'mm dyga oui." "You're pretty good… we'll take you."

"Dryhgc," "Thanks."

"Hu bnupmas," "No problem."

**Borrowed Quotes:** "I have a bad feeling about this." Unintentionally borrowed from Star Wars, Episodes 4-6.


	6. Pledge

**Wonderwall  
****Author:** Chaos Valkyrie  
**Date Conceptualized:** January 2, 2006  
**Posted Chapter 06:** March 3, 2006  
**Updated:** April 15, 2008

**Author's Note:** Whoohoo! New chapter that I didn't have to re-edit because it fit with the newer version of the story line! Yay! And thanks to everyone who's reviewed… I try to answer those things, but sometimes I forget about going over there and who I've replied to. Sorry… I'll try to be better! Promise! And we see Auron this chapter! Rrowr…

**

* * *

**

Chapter Six: Pledge

Rikku and I were to leave that night to travel with the team to Luca. It was decided that after the match, she and I would travel with the others by ship to the Mushroom Rock where Operation Mi'ihen was to commence. We eat dinner quickly and then spend the next hour packing up our meager belongings for the trip before us. Rikku finds it highly entertaining that I am so incredibly anal in my packing. She keeps glancing over my shoulder at the neat rows of ammunition and potions that I've lined up in my bag.

"I'm a neat freak, so just drop it," I tell her succinctly, and wince as I watch her throw her things haphazardly into a knapsack. All she packs is a change of clothes, her pajamas, her claw, targe, and a mess of potions and antidotes and grenades.

My bag, on the other hand, is neatly organized, my civvies folded into a nice little square with my new, better fitting pajamas on top. I'm wearing my Duggles uniform on the ship, and my bracer is strapped to my arm. I buckle my pistol about my hips, and then double-check to make sure that all my potions and ammo are neatly grouped in my bag. My mental inventory complete, I place my blitzball on top of the pile, along with my wallet full of all my battle-earned Gil and my bag of spheres on top.

Rikku giggles as she watches my pack my blitzball. She had discovered, much to my dismay and her amusement, that its name was 'Pooky'. I vowed that I would tape my mouth shut if necessary to keep any more of my embarrassing secrets from escaping in my sleep. Evil roommate.

Rikku bounces ahead of me to the ship, and I'm following her at my own pace when a burly hand reaches out and pulls me into a small alcove off the hallway. I open my mouth to complain, but stop when I see the look on the man's face. It's Cid, and he looks frighteningly serious.

"You're going with Rikku to the game, and then to Mi'ihen?" he asks. I nod.

"That's what we've decided," I tell him. He gives me a once over.

"Well, you're not much," he says, and I have to restrain myself from punching him, "But I've seen ya fight, and ya ain't bad. I want ya to promise me somethin'," he tells me, and the anger leaves me as I stare into his eyes. I think I already know what's coming as he hands me a knife only slightly longer than my hand.

"Swear to me that you'll watch out for Rikku," he tells me. Yup, saw that coming. "She's headstrong and doesn't always think before she acts. And she's my only girl," he trails off for a moment before continuing. "I'm passing the orders fer both of ya to work the cannons, which should keep her safer… but this is Sin we're fighting, so it ain't safe enough. Watch her back for me," he says fiercely. I nod.

"I would've done so anyway, Cid. She helped me when I was friendless and alone. And even if I didn't have that debt to repay, she's my friend now… and I've seen too many friends die recently to let another one go," I tell him. He nods roughly, and I seal the pact by lifting the dagger and slicing my palm open. I manage to keep the wince off my face as I squeeze the blood through my fingers and say, "I swear I'll protect Rikku for you."

Cid nods, then laughs as I try to hand the dagger back to him. He hands me a sheath and cloth, and I wipe the blade off and buckle it to the left side of my belt. I can hear Rikku calling, and after nodding to him one last time, I hurry to join her.

* * *

A couple of days later, unable to sleep, surprise surprise, I walk out on the deck and watch the skies overhead. We'll reach Luca mid-afternoon tomorrow, then play the next morning. Once the championship ends, we'll head on to the Mushroom Rock for Operation Mi'ihen. I heard some of the battle plans earlier, but I still wonder if it'll work. Sin's been here for a thousand years… wouldn't someone have tried something like this by now?

Unbeknownst to me, my roommate is a much lighter sleeper than I gave her credit for. I hear her yawn from close behind me, and I turn with a small grin.

"Shouldn't you be in bed, missy?" I ask her lightly. She bounces up to the railing, all energy even at this dark hour.

"Shouldn't _you_ be, old lady?" she retorts, and I stick my tongue out at her in response. Ever since she had found out that I was twenty-one years old, she had been tormenting me relentlessly about being 'old', which to her fifteen years, I suppose I am.

"Well, unlike _some_ people, I don't _have_ a bedtime," I jeer back. She gasps in fake injury.

"I'm telling Dad!" she retorts, and we both laugh.

"Your dad would probably just tell you to suck it up," I respond. She gives me a lopsided grin.

"You're probably right."

We watched the sky in silence for a while, before she asks, in a much different voice, "Jael, do you think it'll work?"

I know she's referring to Mi'ihen, and so I turn and meet her serious gaze with my own.

"I'm not sure, kiddo. I don't know all that much about Sin or Yevon or your machina, but I think if there's a will, there'll be a way," I reply honestly. She sighs and looks out over the waters before us.

"I hope so," she states. "I want the Al Bhed to be restored. Right now, we're outcasts, living on the edge, reviled by Yevon. I don't care about Yevon itself," she says, looking me in the eyes, "But the believers of Yevon hate us."

"Why?" I ask quietly.

"I guess because we don't follow Yevon, and because we use machina, which is supposed to be forbidden. But why shouldn't we use it?" she asks me, and I shrug.

"It seems harmless enough to me," I tell her, and she nods emphatically.

"We've made all sorts of breakthroughs by studying it, in travel and medicine and communication…" she continues on about the wonders of technology, and I start to chuckle. She trails off, looking at me in confusion.

"What's so funny?" she asks.

"Nothing. I was just thinking how well you and Janus would get along," I reply.

"Janus… he's your brother, right?" she asks, and I nod in reply. "Tell me about him?"

I sigh, looking up at the stars. "Well, he was five years older than I, about six feet tall, and we looked enough alike that there was no doubt we were siblings." I look at her, and she waits for me to continue. "He loved machina, just like you. He would work in the lab all day, wiring new contraptions together, then program all night long only to scrap it and start all over again the next day. He'd wander around with grease on his nose for hours and never realize it. Some of the best memories I have of him are from working in the lab, each of us doing our own thing, but together, you know?"

"Sounds like he was a great guy," she tells me quietly. I grin.

"He was the best," I agree. Not long after, we go back to bed.

* * *

The next day passes quickly, talking over game strategy with various members of the Psyches. The ship docks in late afternoon, and Rikku gives me a slight pep talk before we left the ship.

"Now, don't let anyone get to you out there," she tells me, nodding at the city before us. I was staring at the city, deep in thought. This was the second largest city in Spira, and it still didn't hold a candle to Zanarkand. But it still looked like a nice town, warm, friendly. Probably all that much nicer for not sharing Zanarkand's neon sheen.

"Are you listening to me?" Rikku interrupts my thoughts, and I grin apologetically.

"Cunno," I tell her.

"Anyway," she snorts, "Just remember – you're with the Al Bhed, so you might get treated a little… not nicely," she finishes lamely. "And don't mention Zanarkand at all!"

"Yes, ma'am," I say with a mock-salute. She rolls her eyes at me and grabs my arm.

"C'mon, let's go look around before it gets dark," she says, dragging me off the ship.

We wander Luca for a few hours, taking in the sights. We hit the theater and browse the music spheres and movie spheres, but neither of us has quite enough Gil in our pockets that we dare wasting so much on a single sphere.

We wander into the stadium, and I'm nostalgic suddenly for the stadium back home. Zanarkand's was much bigger and cleaner, making the Luca stadium seem… almost quaint. We pass other blitzers as we mill about, and from the stands I watch as different teams practice in the blitz sphere. I try to point out different techniques to an indifferent Rikku, but she quickly gets bored and drags me back to the ship.

Of course, she gets frustrated as I spend the next few hours talking technique with Nimrook and Eigaar. She stubbornly pokes at her food during dinner and finally declares she's going to bed early. I apologize to her, and she accepts it, but I can tell she really wants a change of subject. I follow her out and we talk about machina for another hour before we turn in early.

* * *

The next morning dawns, and I feel the jittery butterflies dancing in my stomach as I put on my uniform and prepare for the match. After a quick breakfast and lecture from Berrik, the captain, we head for the stadium as a team. I wave goodbye to Rikku, Nulg, and the crew as they wish us good luck from the ship. They'll come to the stadium later, after we've discovered when and who we'll be playing.

We enter the stadium and we're veering towards the locker rooms when I see _him_, my only other link to Zanarkand besides Tidus. A flash of red, a glint on sunglasses; I'm not sure what it is that attracts my attention to him, but as soon as I spot him, I gasp in recognition. I jerk past Lakkam and run over to the man I see, yelling incoherently in a mixture of Spiran and Al Bhed. The spectators are staring, but I don't care, and suddenly I'm heaving as I stand before him, and he's just so… aloof. One eyebrow quirks over his glasses, and I can't see his eyes through the tinted lenses…

He's impatient, I can tell. But now that I'm standing here, what the vilg do I say?

"You…" I pant. He snorts and I blush. Great beginning, me.

"I have no time for fan girls," he states in that deep, monotonous voice. Cocky bastard. Mmm, deep voice. I shake my head to clear my thoughts, and suddenly blurt out…

"Hey, we're dressed kinda alike…" I don't even wait for his eyebrow to quirk before I smack my own forehead with my hand. True, we do both have the red-black-silver thing going, but I really need to think before I speak. Rikku must be rubbing off on me. He turns away from me, slowly walking up the steps to the stands, and I can hear Nimrook behind me, shouting to me impatiently in Al Bhed.

"E'mm pa drana eh y vilgehk sehida!" I yell back, then charge partway up the steps after the Red Guy.

"You! I'm not done with you!" He pauses, but I can tell he's not going to turn around. Sure enough, he starts walking again.

"I saw you! With Tidus!" I yell, and this time he freezes for real. His head turns quickly, and this time I can see his left eye peering at me over his glasses, fathomless. He turns fully, and now I see that it's his only eye – the other is closed by a scar, destroyed by some ancient injury.

"And you… you were standing… on the bridge… in the light," I say, my voice lower, breaking. The crowds are jostling past us, no one paying us any mind, like we're the only two people standing here on the stairs. "The night Zanarkand was destroyed." I gulp, and we're just staring at each other, confusion radiating from both of us. No one else matters at this point, it's just me and him, and hopefully the answers he can give me. "How…"

The moment breaks when Eigaar grabs my arm and yanks me down the steps. I'm so off-balance that I half fall and he supports me, yanking me through the crowds and cursing in Al Bhed. I look back, and he's still standing there, a rock standing firm in the tides of the masses, staring at me. But then a group of tall cat-like creatures pass in between us, and when they've moved out of the way, he's gone.

I pull Eigaar to a halt, and before he realizes what's going on, I've decked him one and he's staring up at me from the floor. Without another word, I march towards the locker room, wiping a tear from my eye.

I've got to stop crying. I'll have my answers soon enough.

* * *

Apparently, we're playing the worst team in the history of blitzball on Spira. I snort, still distracted by the Crimson Avenger I spotted earlier. Berrik is impatient with me, but I continue to ignore his pre-game pep talk. Then he's got a comsphere, and I watch disinterestedly as Nulg's face comes up. Going back to my internal debate, I only vaguely hear talk of summoners and something to do with the game.

A few more minutes, and suddenly the team is standing. I shake myself out of my reverie…

There's a game to play, after all, and blitzball waits for no woman.

**

* * *

**

Chapter Six Al Bhed Translations:

"E'mm pa drana eh y vilgehk sehida!" "I'll be there in a fucking minute!"

**End Notes:** Mmmm… Auron goodness… I just kicked Yunalesca's butt last night in my game, and can I say I really hate her? Not only is she skanky, but she killed young-hot-Auron. And yes, I was ogling a video game character throughout all those flashbacks they show in Zanarkand… meh. Not that older-gruff-Auron is any less attractive… hm. Think I'll stop while I'm not ahead…


	7. KO'ed

**Wonderwall  
****Author:** Chaos Valkyrie  
**Date Conceptualized:** January 2, 2006  
**Posted Chapter 07:** March 17, 2006  
**Updated:** April 15, 2008

**Disclaimer:** Um… no?

**Author's Note:** Sorry I didn't post last week… I have sick kitties. Who now hate me because I give them medicine. Sigh. Anywho, I'll promise a double posting when we get to operation Mi'ihen – which should be in the next week or two – to make up for it. By!

**

* * *

**

Chapter Seven: K.O.'ed

For being the worst team in the history of Spira, the Besaid Aurochs are a huge pain in the ass. Their captain is this buff redhead, not a bad forward, as he returns the one point we earn with one of their own. The game remains tied, and the Aurochs have a fairly tight defense. By the end of the first half, we're tied 1-1.

Berrik gives us a big lecture in the locker room, and I grin, thinking of how Garen would've grilled the Duggles by this point. Nimrook is a good goalie, but the rest of the team doesn't quite cut the snuff. I'll admit, the Duggles may not have been all that much better as individual players, but we kept up the intensity and we worked seamlessly as a team. That was our strength, our teamwork – any weaknesses we had as individuals we covered by working as a whole.

The second half starts, and I grab the ball before the redhead can even blink. I shoot forward through the water, shouting to Eigaar in Al Bhed and passing. I cut through the defense, watch him pass to Judda, to Lakkam, back to Eigaar, and suddenly the ball's heading right for me. The Auroch's defender tries to tackle me, but I dodge it in time and shoot for the goal. The ball sinks in with a satisfying thump and I'm tackled by Eigaar and Berrik. The Aurochs are looking to their captain as we head back to our side of the field and wait for the toss up.

Before long, the Aurochs have retied the game and I'm cursing Lakkam under my breath for letting that point through. We're down to the last few minutes, and we're scrambling for control of the ball. I'm already beginning to suspect that something is up – the Aurochs have been keeping the game tied, but then they stall, as if they're waiting for something. I'm not sure what's up, but I'm looking to my teammates, who don't seem very surprised by this tactic. I frown.

At thirty seconds to go, I'm suddenly distracted by a flare outside the water. It looks like some kind of distant fireworks, and apparently, this is the signal the Aurochs have been waiting for. The entire team goes on the offensive, passing the ball back and forth, stretching their limits. I swim desperately to block a pass, but I miss and the ball makes it to their captain. He shoots, and Nimrook is so taken off guard that it gets past him. The buzzer sounds, and suddenly the game is over, with the Aurochs as the victor.

Everyone is completely stunned by this turn of events. And I can't blame them as we leave the arena and head back to the locker room in defeated silence. Only, the locker room is not quite as empty as we left it.

Rikku is standing in the middle of the room, and she's fuming mad. As soon as she sees Nimrook, she heads straight for him and punches him in the stomach. Of course, Rikku is a small girl and he's a really big goalie, so the punch seems to have little effect other than surprise. Then Rikku starts tearing into him in Al Bhed, and I struggle to keep up.

"Fryd dra ramm ec ymm drec ypuid?" she screeches. He shrugs, trying to play innocent.

"Fryd?" he replies.

"Vencd dra creb ypyhtuhc sa yd dra tulg, yht drah E veht uid dryd oui'ja gethybbat y summoner yc pmtlgsyem du feh dra kysa?!"

"Ur, dryd. Mad sa aqnmyeh …"

By this point, I'm fuming, and cut in. "Oui sayh du damm sa oui cekhat sa ib vun y nekkat kysa?" I snarl slowly in Al Bhed. To his credit, Nimrook doesn't back down.

"Fa'na gethybbehk dras yhofyo! E zicd druikrd …"

I cut him off. "Hu, ybbynahdmo oui teth'd. E tuh'd bmyo nekkat kysac," I snipe, "E bmyo vyen, un hud yd ymm. Cu oui lyh luihd sa uid uv ajan bmyoehk fedr ouin days ykyeh!"

Rikku's looking at me, a wicked sparkle glowing in her eyes. I ignore her as I grab my bag and stalk towards the door. The team is chattering, but I can still hear Nimrook say,

"Hu pek mucc, oui fanah'd dryd knayd yhafyo."

I toss Rikku my bag, turn and punch him. Unlike Rikku, my right fist knocks him down. I glare once at the now silent team before I reclaim my bag from Rikku and storm out.

* * *

Neither of us speak until we've reached the docks. The town is eerily quiet, the only sounds coming from the stadium as the next blitzball game commences. Luca versus Kilika, and it sounds like Luca is going to win.

The ship is docked sadly, and I ignore the crew as I head for my cabin. Rikku, however, instantly starts to tear into them as they vainly try to convince her of their reasons for leaving her behind. I pass the sizzling remains of their machina weapon and shrug.

I drop my game bag off and strap on my gun and my bracer. I double check to make sure that I've stocked enough ammo in my pouches, and then toss in a couple of extra potions. I slide my Gil in another pouch and head back out on the deck to retrieve the screaming Rikku.

"C'mon, you've got some questions to answer, lady," I tell her as I pull her along. For once, I'm the one leading as I drag her through Luca to the stadium. The game has ended, Luca the victor, and now people are milling about, preparing for the finals.

I drag her up the steps, up into the highest reaches of the stadium where no one is sitting. We're in the worst of the nosebleed section, but I'm not here to watch the game. I want answers.

"What's this about kidnapping summoners?" I ask her sternly. She looks up at me, eyes wide.

"I was hoping you wouldn't hear that," she mumbles. I snort.

"It was kind of hard to miss. So spill," I tell her, folding my hands in front of me. She has already explained to me once before about the summoner's duty to Yevon, but this time she goes into more detail about what lies at the end of the summoner's journey, and how the Al Bhed believe that if they can't talk the summoners into stopping, they can force them bodily to stop by taking them to Bikanel.

"…And they're just going to die, and for what? So that Sin can come back in a few years?!" she erupts. She's on her feet now, kicking steps, furious with the world. And I just sit there, thinking quietly, which I am fully aware pisses her off even more.

"Aren't you going to say anything!" she yells at me. Oddly enough, her answers have cooled me down, so that I'm dead-serious when I answer her.

"Well," I begin slowly, knowing how my answer is going to piss her off, "Isn't that their choice? I mean, they know the game is rigged against them, but they're still willing to fight despite all that. I have to respect that, Rikku," and I can see she's swelling up before me, "Even if I don't necessarily agree with it."

"Rikku, if there is one thing I've forcefully learned recently, it's that we all die. Sooner, later, makes no sense or difference. The summoners accept that fact. They accept that it may be a futile effort, but to bring peace to the world, to spare the people they love and those they don't from pain by taking it themselves… I can't help but respect that wish. It's so… _selfless_ that you have no choice _but_ to respect it."

"But I agree with you, that there must be another way. Perhaps the reason Sin still exists is just that the right summoner has yet to come along. Or perhaps no one has ever bothered to study Sin, to really learn how to defeat it. I know the Al Bhed have tried, and been discredited so no one will listen. But I'm sure there must be a way to destroy it for good, and if we study it long enough and hard enough, perhaps we can." Rikku's looking at me with something akin to awe, and I give her a confused look.

"You sounded like my dad for second… well," she amended, "Like a younger, much more reasonable female version, but still," she giggles as I make a face at her. Cheering alerts us to the beginning of the finals, and I gaze towards the sphere…

"Well I'll be tyshat," I whistle, and Rikku follows my gaze towards the arena.

"Isn't that…" she trails off.

"…the luckiest s-o-b to ever play blitzball," I finish for her as we watch Tidus swim through the waters before us.

* * *

Rikku and I watch the game, straining our necks to see clearly from this high vantage point. I almost suggest moving to a lower location, but the stadium is packed. Mainly with Luca fans – it is the home team after all – but there are a lot of people here to witness the Aurochs make history. Hell, they've already made history by winning their first game in… I don't even know how many years. But to be in the finals? This match is going in the history books, win or lose.

And speaking of winning, they just might do it. Tidus kept the game tied in the first half, returning a point for every one the Goers scored. I see the ball shoot out of the water for his Sphere Shot, and I'm almost bowled over with nostalgia. And fear… I look around, but thankfully there are no fiery missiles heading towards us.

And then first off the bat in the second half, I see that ball shoot up again, but this time it's something completely different. I see him smash it into both defenders, and I'm in awe suddenly. I've seen that move before… any serious blitzball lover would've seen it, a little over ten (plus a thousand) years ago in Zanarkand…

"What was that?" Rikku asks me, awed.

"The Jecht Shot Mark III," I reply, "It was his father's signature move. I saw Jecht do that when I was kid. That's what made me want to play blitzball," I tell her. And suddenly I'm so proud of Tidus I can hardly keep myself from puking. It's grudging, to be sure, but now I can see why he was so revered in Zanarkand. I guess, at that moment in my eyes, he finally _earned_ all the praise and hoopla for himself.

Not long after the goal, Tidus leaves the game and the red-haired captain comes back in. I'm not sure why Tidus left, but he left the Aurochs ahead, and they manage to fend off the Goers until the final buzzer sounds. The Aurochs win, and the entire stadium erupts in skeptical but awed cheers.

I'm in the middle of cheering myself hoarse when I _feel_ it. Rikku looks at me, puzzled, as I have my gun out of its holster quicker than you can say 'blitz'. "Jael, what…" she trails off, then screams.

For the stadium is being overrun with fiends. I cock my gun and shoot down a monstrous flier. Its wing is injured, but it snakes its head towards me with the power of its serpentine neck. I kick it aside, and see Rikku jump back, something in her hand. She claws the creature in the eyes, and I shoot it in the head. It reels back, and both Rikku and I lash it a few more times for good measure.

It bursts into lights, and I hear Rikku gasp. I turn and shoot the creature that had snuck up on her from the hip, causing it to burst into pyreflies as well.

"C'mon," I tell her, "Let's get back to the ship."

We turn and start down the steps when I hear the most god-awful noise coming from the stadium. We both stop and watch, horrified, as a blue-haired man summons a monstrous chain from _nowhere_ and pulls a horrendous creature out of the depths of Hell, I'm sure. Rikku's eyes are wide in horror as the creature starts destroying fiends throughout the stadium.

"Can you believe that," she whispers in fright. I snort.

"I know. His clothes are simply awful! And that _hair_…" I trail off as she punches my arm and I grin.

"I meant the aeon!" she snarls, then laughs. "Though you're right about the guy." She checks to make sure no one is listening to us, but we're still quite alone.

"Anyway, let's head back to the ship," I repeat, and we turn once again to leave the stands.

**

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Chapter Seven Al Bhed Translations:

"Fryd dra ramm ec ymm drec ypuid?" - "What the hell is all this about?"

"Fryd?" - "What?"

"Vencd dra creb ypyhtuhc sa yd dra tulg, yht drah E veht uid dryd oui'ja gethybbat y summoner yc pmtlgsyem du feh dra kysa?!" - "First the ship abandons me at the dock, and then I find out that you've kidnapped a summoner as blackmail to win the game?!"

"Ur, dryd. Mad sa aqnmyeh …" - "Oh, that. Let me explain…"

"Oui sayh du damm sa oui cekhat sa ib vun y nekkat kysa?" - "You mean to tell me you signed me up for a rigged game?"

"Fa'na gethybbehk dras yhofyo! E zicd druikrd …" - "We're kidnapping them anyway! I just thought…"

"Hu, ybbynahdmo oui teth'd. E tuh'd bmyo nekkat kysac," - "No, apparently you didn't. I don't play rigged games,"

"E bmyo vyen, un hud yd ymm. Cu oui lyh luihd sa uid uv ajan bmyoehk fedr ouin days ykyeh!" - "I play fair, or not at all. So you can count me out of ever playing with your team again!"

"Hu pek mucc, oui fanah'd dryd knayd yhafyo." - "No big loss, you weren't that great anyway."

**End Notes:** Yeah, double posting will probably be next week or week after. I need to look at the Mi'ihen chapters and pick which ones work better together. Thanks!


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